Shifter One Shots
by BandGeekDrummer
Summary: These are one shots that are based on my first story "Shifter". Agent Gunnar Wells is Captain America's partner who can shift into a German Shepherd. These are some humorous/fluffy interactions he has living with the Avengers. Can be read as a stand alone but it might make more sense if you read in order. Better summery inside!
1. Gunnar vs The Birds

**A/N:** This is a one shot that popped into my head the other day and I've been slowly working on all week. For all of you who don't know much about my OC, my other story is called Shifter. Hopefully this makes sense enough to be a stand alone! Just a little bit of humor mixed with daily events. There are a couple references to the first story though. Hope everyone enjoys it!

**Disclaimer:** Marvel reserves all rights to these characters except for Gunnar.

**Facts to know before reading:**

Agent Gunnar Wells is a 22 year old half human, half Asgardian warg. He shifts into a chocolate colored German Shepherd when he pleases and can still understand conversation, but he can't talk when in dog form. He is Captain America's partner and buddy. He's not quite as tall and bulky as Steve and Thor, but he's agile. When he's in dog form, he can't always control his behavior and likes when they throw balls and being around his teammates. Agent Coulson found him as a puppy and his two handlers died before he was assigned to Steve.

BEGIN.

It was a dreary January Wednesday afternoon in New York City. It had rained heavily that morning. Tony, Pepper, Clint, Steve and Gunnar were temporarily the only occupants in the penthouse suite of Avengers Tower. Natasha and Bruce were on separate missions and Thor was with Jane.

"Clint, do you happen to know where Gunnar's leash is? I have an errand to run and it's just around the corner so I thought it would be nice to take him out for some fresh air." Pepper asked the archer sitting in the living area. He was busy concentrating on cleaning his bow.

"Did you check his room?" He asked.

"That was the first place I looked." She answered.

"What about Cap's room?" He inquired, not looking up from what he was working on.

"Right. Why didn't I think of that! Thanks Clint!" She said as she walked off. Her voice echoed slightly due to the vaulted ceiling.

"No problem." He said snickered to himself as he refocused on the task at hand.

Pepper opened the door to Steve's room and didn't even have to go in. She saw the leash and collar with an American flag print on the in table just inside the entry and grabbed it. She closed the door behind her and walked back down the hall.

A few minutes later she had donned her fitted pea coat and purse and headed to the elevator. She would have to stop on one of the lower floors where Steve and Gunnar were training in the gym.

During the elevator ride she inspected the collar more closely out of boredom. It had a silver bone shaped tag that said SPANGLES etched into it. She smiled with amusement recalling the story that Tony told her about how he earned that cover name. Although later she would find  
out that it also doubled as a tracking device.

The elevator doors glided open smoothly and she arrived at the gym. She immediately looked up and spotted Gunnar and Steve on the boxing mats.

"Gunnar! Steve!" She yelled over the music. Gunnar turned his attention to her and galloped over to greet her. Steve trailed behind.

"Hi Steve, I was wondering if you would let your partner here escape for a little bit. I have a small business transaction nearby that I want to do in person. I figured he would love to go and get out of the tower for a quick walk." She smiled as she talked.

Gunnar wagged his tail and howled in response.

"I'm guessing that's a yes." Steve chuckled.

Gunnar looked up at Steve with pleading eyes and even gave him a soft whimper.

"Alright, go have fun." He said as he waved his hand in a shooing motion as a sign to stop begging.

"Take care of Ms. Potts though, okay?" Steve crouched down and snapped the collar around his neck. Gunnar licked his hand in compliance. Then he handed the end of the leash to Pepper.

"Thank you, Steve. We won't be gone long." She replied.

"It's not a worry. Stay warm!" He said as he got back to his workout routine.

"Jarvis, tell Tony that Gunnar and I are going out and we will be back in an hour and he is to meet me upstairs for a late lunch. He needs to get out of the lab for a little while."

"Certainly. I have notified him and he agreed with only the slightest protest." The A.I. replied.

"Thank you Jarvis." She said.

"As always, Ms. Potts."

The duo stepped out onto the side walk in front of tower and Pepper shuddered through her thick jacket. She suddenly was missing the Malibu house and California weather. The streets were slightly wet from the rain and there were mud puddles where the cement was uneven. She headed down the street quickly towards their destination with Gunnar next to her.

45 minutes later:

Tony and Steve had joined Clint in the living area to wait for them to get back to eat lunch. The men were lost in conversation when the elevator beeped and Gunnar came flying out, dragging his leash.

"THAT'S RIGHT, YOU BETTER RUN!" Pepper yelled. She came around the corner with her front and lower half drenched, covered in thick mud. Her arms flailed as she slowly walked in.

Steve and Tony stood up and the Asgardian cowered behind them.

"What happened?!" Tony asked.

"I am NEVER taking him on another walk again." She said angrily.

"I forgot to mention... he likes to pull." Clint said trying to control his laughter.

"It's not funny!" She practically shouted.

Tony stepped up to her and put his hand on her arm.

"Usually I'm in the dog house. No pun intended. But seriously. Are you okay?"  
He said with his usual Stark - Ness.

"Other than being extremely cold and my whole outfit needing a dry cleaning, I'm fine." She said glaring slightly at Gunnar who was still hiding behind Steve's legs.

"I didn't think he pulled that bad! I promise I would have warned you if I knew." Steve said still focused on his partner.

"I'm not a super soldier either!" She retorted sarcastically.

"He's sorry Pepper, look at him. He knows he was bad." Steve said leaning over to pet him but he kept his head tucked and lowered against his calf. "It's okay buddy..." Steve said.

"Well your partner has the attention span of a goldfish." She said matter of factly.

"What happened exactly?" Tony asked.

Gunnar looked up slowly and made eye contact with everyone.

"Well, after I delivered my paperwork for a clients account, I took him across the street to park for a few minutes and that's when he saw a couple of birds across the field." She explained.

"Really Gunnar? Birds?" Clint asked looking incredulously at the furry Avenger.

Gunnar put his head back down in shame and whined.

"Better watch out Hawkeye, he might come after you next." Tony smirked.

"Anyway, before I could react I was being dragged through the mud!" She continued to explain.

"Well I can assure you that it won't happen again. To anyone. Right Gunnar?" He said with his most serious tone.

Steve sat back down next to Clint with his legged propped out as far as he could and Gunnar laid down behind them as flat as he possibly could and let out a indefinable noise.

"I'm going to go get out of this mess and then we can have lunch." Pepper said and gave Tony a quick peck on the cheek.

As soon as she disappeared down the hallway the three men started howling with laughter.

"Man! I can't wait to tell Natasha and Bruce!" Clint smiled. "I wish it was videotaped…"

"Why didn't she just let go of the leash?" Steve laughed. Clint nodded in agreement and wondered the same thing.

"From now on, I'll just walk you." Steve declared while grinning. "What am I going to do with you, bud?" He asked while ruffling the fur on his head.

"You can come out from behind Cap now Gunnar. The mad lady is gone." Clint said still laughing.

Gunnar slowly emerged into a sitting position next to Clint. He rested his head on the couch between them and looked at them back and forth a few times.

"Is human Gunnar going to apologize?" Steve asked the dog.

Gunnar gave a short grumbled woof.

"You can't go around chasing birds when you're attached to a woman. No matter how funny it might be. Be a gentleman." Steve said while stroking Gunnar's chocolate brown fur.

"Gentleman?" Tony snorted.

Gunnar ran down the hallway towards his bedroom and when he reappeared in the main area he was in human form and Pepper was back.

"Pepper, I am so sorry. I get carried away sometimes. The dog in me just takes over." Gunnar rambled quickly.

"I'm not angry anymore and I accept your apology." She replied. "Now who wants lunch?"

END.


	2. Gunnar vs Eyeballs

**A/N:** So I got a pretty cool reaction to the first one shot. Thank you everyone for following, the favorites and reviewing. I am so thankful for the support. Now this short story is actually based on my husband's childhood dog. I got the idea from him and he said I should write it out. So this chapter is dedicated to Chris and Buddy. These stories are going to jump around the timeline so always read the forward!

**Forward:** This lines up with the end of Shifter. Steve has left with Natasha for Washington D.C. (CA: TWS) and Gunnar is at the tower with the rest of the Avengers.

BEGIN.

Clint walked into the kitchen to get coffee early one morning. He had just gotten back from a classified location on a mission the previous night. He winced slightly as felt the bruises on his ribs as he prepared his mug waiting for the coffee to be ready.

As he was standing he looked at the pristine floor and saw something strange. A plastic eyeball. His face scrunched up in confusion and picked it up to inspect it further. It looked like part of a dog toy. The archer was brought back to reality when the coffee machine beeped. He poured a steaming cup and headed into the living room.

Before he could sit, he spotted yet another plastic eyeball. This one was attached to brown colored fabric. He also found a couple remnants of stuffing trailing back to the sleeping quarters. He walked quietly to the bedrooms and peaked around the corner. Gunnar was on the floor of his bedroom growling and tearing all sorts of stuffed animals apart. But he was only focusing on one thing. The eyeballs. Once the toy had become eyeless, he threw it to the side and started working on another one.

Without making a sound he headed back down the hallway and up one floor to Bruce's library. He knew the scientist was an early riser and spent most of his mornings in the quiet sanctuary of the study. He wasn't one who usually meddled in people's business, but he thought it was concerning enough to tell someone.

He walked into the study and sat down on the comfortably large couch that Dr. Banner was sitting across from on a single oversized chair.

"Morning Clint, what brings you up here?" Bruce asked.

"I saw something strange, Doc." He answered. "It was Gunnar."

Bruce stopped what he was doing and focused his attention on the agent sitting across from him. "What happened?"

"I found these on the floors." He said as he opened his hand to reveal the eyeballs. "Then I found him destroying toys in his room."

"I'm not a dog behaviorist, but it I would say that was fairly normal. To destroy toys…" Bruce said.

"He's only pulling the eyes out! Then he goes on to the next one." Clint laughed.

"Oh. Well that's… interesting." Bruce smiled slightly.

"I think someone needs to talk to him." He said then pausing.

"And you think that should be me?" Bruce scoffed. "I'm not that kind of doctor, Barton. You know that."

"He's pulling out eyes, Bruce. Eyes. I'm all for violence but seriously?" He replied.

"Alright, alright, show me." He succumbed.

A few minutes later they were both peaking around the corner watching Gunnar tear the eyes off every single toy.

"I didn't even know we had that many toys for him." Bruce whispered.

"That's what I thought!" Clint hissed.

"Doesn't he have ridiculous hearing? Why doesn't he know we're watching?" Bruce asked.

"Maybe he's just so focused." Clint laughed quietly.

"What are we watching?" Pepper said making Bruce jump slightly. Clint didn't seem to be startled by her.

"Gunnar is ripping eyeballs off of toys." Clint responded.

"That's a little sadistic, even for him." She replied.

"Maybe it's his way of coping while Cap is gone." Bruce offered.

"Look! Now he's rubbing his body all over the carcasses!" Clint said mortified.

"It looks like he's really happy…" Pepper commented.

"Is that a stuffed Iron Man?" Clint said squinting.

"It is!" Pepper replied worriedly . "I brought that home the other day because I thought it was funny. Oh dear, looks like the eyes are missing off him too…"

"You're right. We should go talk to him." Bruce concurred.

"Yeah." They said at the same time.

All three of them walked around the corner from which they were hiding and walked slowly up to their teammates room door.

Gunnar looked up with an eyeball attached to fuzz hanging out of his mouth.

"Hey bud… are you okay?" Bruce asked.

Gunnar wagged his tail with the eye still hanging out of his mouth.

"We just wanted to see why you were doing that to all your toys." He said softly.

Gunnar sat up and rubbed his face on Bruce's leg and licked his hand.

"Alright. We're going to go now… just please stop doing this. It's creeping everyone out." Clint replied.

Gunnar cocked his head to one side at Clint's comment like he wasn't sure why it was so creepy then laid down sighed heavily. Bruce noticed a lone toy up on his bed. It was a stuffed Captain America. But the eyes were still intact.

END.


	3. Gunnar vs Dum-E (Part 1)

A/N: Yay! Thank you to everyone who started following and favoriting. I wanted to post this chapter before I left on vacation for three days. I'll be back on Sunday and post another chapter sometime next week. I also wanted to say that I'm accepting ideas and requests. Can be anything.

BEGIN.

Gunnar abruptly woke up to someone walking into his room at 3 in the morning. He blinked slowly and looked up at the person in front of him.

"Pssst! Dog breath. I need your assistance in the lab. Right now." Tony said not so quietly.

Gunnar squinted at the clock. "Go away Tony, it's too early..." Gunnar grumbled.

"You're going to love what I did, so come on." He replied enthusiastically.

"Have you been up all night?" He asked.

"Does it matter?" Tony scoffed.

"You won't leave me alone until I've been shown whatever mad genius idea you've concocted this time. Will you?" Gunnar asked gloomily. He asked Jarvis to turn on the light next to his bed and it illuminated the room partially.

"You are correct. Huh, handsome and intelligent." Tony said cockily.

"Thanks." He answered.

"I was actually talking about myself but your welcome."

"Fine. Let me get dressed." Gunnar said grunting as he sat up while wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Actually, I need Spangles." He said.

"Ugh, okay. I'll meet you down in the lab in 5 minutes. Unless you want to see me naked." He retorted.

"No thanks. You better. I don't have patience right now."

"Do you ever?" Gunnar snorted.

A few minutes later Tony was drumming his fingers against the glass table in front of him when Gunnar in dog form appeared.

"Finally. For a minute I thought you might have morphed into a slug." He said.

Gunnar dragged out a low growl.

"Follow me." He gestured with his hand then walked over to Dum-E. "I'm proud to announce that Dum-E here can now throw balls for you. I added a smaller version of a tennis ball machine to him and coded him to pick up the balls and refill the tube. I just need you to test it." He reported.

Gunnar barked happily and wagged his tail.

"I know you like when we do it but we aren't always around and everyone has separate schedules." Tony stated.

Tony made Dum-E throw a test round and Gunnar ran after it, contently chewing on it after retrieving it.

"I coded your bark, so all you have to do is vocalize and he'll toss another one."

There were a few more rounds before Gunnar laid belly up on the floor and surrendered.

"I suppose we can finish this up later today." said Tony. "Go back to bed."

Gunnar looked at him for a few minutes seeing the dark circles under the mechanics eyes while he went back to tinkering on another project. Then he whined.

Truth was, Tony wasn't sleeping well while Pepper was on a business trip in DC and he had been spending a majority of his time in the lab. He had gotten use to her being next to him at night and the occasional times she was away, he became restless. It was nice to have company that didn't talk too.

Tony tried to ignore Gunnar's whines but after a few he had enough so he turned around and stared back.

"What? I told you to go back to bed." He asked.

Gunnar stood up and walked over to Tony. Then laid down so close that he was on his foot and against his leg.

But Tony didn't protest or shift away.

The next time Gunnar went down to the workshop there was a red and blue micro fleece covered dog bed next to the chair that Tony always used while working. Gunnar took it upon himself to sleep there when the mechanic was up until all hours of the night updating his latest suit.

END.


	4. Gunnar vs The Skunk

**A/N**: Here is the new one shot! It was pretty fun to write. I'm sorry it took longer than expected, but I have an awesome announcement. I began writing the next main story about Gunnar. It will be a CA: TWS rewrite. It's about halfway done and I can't wait to upload it in a couple weeks. It is by far better than the first installment. I love it so far and I'm so proud of it. It will also have a Beta so it will definitely flow better. Thank you for the support!

"Welcome to the Malibu mansion." Tony announced as he, Pepper, Bruce, Thor, Clint, Natasha, Steve and Gunnar walked into the grand entry. "To your left up the stairs you will find the guest bedrooms. Downstairs is the shop and to your right is the kitchen, bar and living room. Feel free to explore." He explained.

"I've planned for a hike in the morning for anyone who wants to go." Pepper looked at everyone.

"Gunnar and I will go with you. I'm sure he'd love to unleash his dog side." Steve volunteered.

"I love you Pepper, but you know I don't hike." Tony answered.

"Anyone else?" She asked hopefully.

"You want to go, Doc?" Steve asked.

"Sure. I guess it can't hurt." He replied with a shrug.

"Sorry Pepper. Natasha, Thor and I have to check in at the base in the morning." Clint said. She gave an understanding nod in reply.

"Terrific. I'll see you all in the morning. If you need anything, ask Jarvis. You know the drill." She said and kissed Tony before going up to their room.

The others wandered around and went their separate ways.

"You hungry Gun?" He asked.

"Starving! What about you?" He replied.

"I could go for a burger right about now. I know there's an In N Out not too far from here. We passed it on the way in." Steve spoke. It was on his list of places to check out.

"Let's go!" He answered.

**The Next Morning:**

Gunnar, Pepper, Steve and Bruce headed out on the trail up to the Escondido Falls. The fresh air was nice after being in New York for the last few months. They were all glad to have a break.

"So there's a waterfall at the top?" Steve asked and Pepper nodded in confirmation. "There are three stops. They all have good views."

Gunnar trotted along happily occasionally going off the beaten path and exploring.

It didn't take long to get up to the 3rd waterfall area. It was a gorgeous view and the mist was refreshing.

On the way back down Gunnar went off the path further this time. He sniffed around and saw a small creature standing in front of him. His dog instincts took over and he lunged for it. This was unfortunate for Gunnar because the animal happened to be a skunk and it immediately sprayed him at close range. He whined and ran back to the rest of the group.

"Oh god, what is that smell?" Pepper said crinkling her nose is disgust.

"Gunnar what did you get into?" Steve said backing away.

"It was a skunk. I know that smell." Bruce said as he stepped away also.

"Pew! What are we going to do with you?" Steve retorted.

"He's not going in my car!" Pepper replied. "No way."

"Well we can't just leave him here. We'll just have to roll the windows down." Steve said.

"But what if he rubs it on the interior? We'll never get it out!" She defended.

"You just had to go explore, huh buddy?" Steve noticed how miserable Gunnar looked.

When they got down to the parking lot, they put him in the back of her SUV in the truck area on a couple of towels she luckily packed.

"It smells so bad in here. Even with the windows down." She commented.

Gunnar laid down in defeat and whined.

When they got home they went up to Tony and Peppers room and turned on the bathtub. It was the biggest one in the mansion so they decided it would be best.

Gunnar jumped in to wait for Bruce to finish mixing ingredients. (Hydrogen peroxide, dishwashing soap and baking soda). Steve found some heavy duty scrub brushes under the sink that the maids used. They dumped the solution in, donned gloves and started scrubbing him down.

Gunnar was mortified while being washed down by his three friends but it was necessary. Steve was afraid every time he turned into his dog form he would smell still, so they decided this would be the best plan of attack.

Pepper noticed how uncomfortable Gunnar seemed so she asked Jarvis to turn some music on. The stink was slowly starting to fade and they were actually having fun.

Tony appeared in the doorway. "Why is Spangles in my bathtub? And why does it reek of skunk?" He asked accusingly.

"Gunnar got sprayed on our walk. We were afraid that the stink wouldn't go away once he turned to human. So we decided to help scrub him down." Pepper explained.

"But why did it have to happen in MY Jacuzzi?" He rolled his eyes.

"Because Tony, it's the biggest one."

After they had gotten the smell mostly neutralized, they wrapped towels around him and put him out on the deck to dry.

He was still out there looking through the door glass pathetically when Clint, Natasha and Thor arrived back at the house.

Clint was about to open the door for him when Pepper yelled "Don't let him in!"

"Why is he outside?" He asked.

"He got sprayed by a skunk. He's staying outside until he doesn't smell."

They brought his dinner out in a bowl and when the sun had gone down, Steve wandered out with a couple of blankets.

"Hey stinky, I brought you a blanket." He laid it down on the ground and Gunnar got on it and curled up.

He took the other one and laid down on the closest lounge chair and covered himself up.

Gunnar cocked his head to one side in question.

"You looked pretty pathetic out here all alone. I figured since we're partners, I should keep you company."

Gunnar wagged his tail.

"As long as you stay over there." Steve joked.


	5. Gunnar vs Dum-E (Part 2)

**A/N**: I'm still working hard on my Captain America rewrite. This chapter is dedicated to my dog who will sacrifice his body during fetch. He will literally run head first into a rock wall to get the ball. It's great. Anyway, I hope everyone likes it.

**A special thank you to**: Qweb, Zombiedoughnut and A Shieldmaiden of Rohan for the reviews so far. You guys are awesome and I thank you for putting in the extra time to give me feedback.

It only took one event for Tony to regret building the tennis ball shooter extension on Dum-E.

He walked into the garage and noticed there were tennis balls everywhere on the floor. Gunnar was nowhere to be found. His garage/shop was a wreck. It looked as though it had been ransacked. There were papers scattered everywhere and a nice dent in the front of a toolbox. A workbench was also askew.

"Jarvis. Tell me what happened. Immediately. Why didn't you alert me?" Tony said angrily.

_My apologies sir. No security violations took place. It seems as though Dum-E should not be playing fetch with Gunnar in the shop due to his size and strength. Agent Wells has no boundaries when it comes to playing this game. He ran into things as Dum-E threw the tennis balls earlier this afternoon. Might I suggest moving it to the gym next time? _

"Right." Tony said exhausted from the appearance of his garage. He sat down on the nearby stool.

As he scanned the shop for damage, his eyes stopped at the Gunnar sized dent that was now in the passenger door of Coulson's 1962 cherry red Corvette with technology developed by Howard. He closed his eyes to prevent the panic that was starting to take over his mind.

"It's just a car, it's just a car..." He chanted quietly.

"Hey Stark you got those new arr- what happened in here?!" Clint asked. "And who did that to Lola?!" He yelled appalled.

Clint referencing her name was the tipping point.

"Gunnar..." He growled as he launched his body off the stool and paced the room breathing hard. "I'm going to get all the blame for this. What am I going to tell Coulson?"

"Dude, if that were my car, he would be dead. Like Old Yeller dead." Clint joked.

Tony picked up the hammer near him and headed up the stairs.

"Tony. What are you doing with the hammer? It was just a joke! Don't actually kill him!" Clint ran after him.

Tony appeared in the living room where Bruce and Pepper were chatting. They saw him fuming and Clint caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder to stop him on his warpath. "Calm down!"

"Tony what's wrong?" Pepper stood up with a concerned look on her face.

"What's wrong? That mutt just put a dent the size of this city in Coulson's car. I told him it would be safe here and even that took a lot of convincing..."

"I'm sure he'll understand. Things happen." She replied.

"I'm not so sure about that Pepper. The man won't even let people touch it." Clint piped up.

"And he wrecked the shop!" He added.

"Not so funny when his dog side causes you trouble now, huh?" She dished back at him.

Clint slipped the hammer out of Tony's hand when he was arguing with Pepper. Gunnar poked his head around the corner in shame. Everyone saw this but Tony who was still upset over what had happened.

Tony flopped down on one of the couches and rubbed his hand over his face several times.

He saw Gunnar move slightly. "You!" He yelled and squinted his eyes. "You're making that phone call! I won't be blamed for this!"

Gunnar quickly disappeared around the corner.

"He causes more trouble than I do, and let me tell you that is a feat. He takes it to a whole new level." Tony scoffed.

"Well at least we know he'll do anything including sacrificing his body during fetch!" Clint laughed.

"Can you fix it?" Pepper asked nicely.

"Of course I can. It's me, woman. I can do anything." He replied arrogantly.

"Good. Because he'll be here tomorrow." She laughed.


End file.
